Printing-machine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. A. BRIGGS. PRINTING MACHINE.

No. 469,931. Patented Mar. 1,1892.

. Fig-1- WIT NEESE 5 v 4 Sheetis-Sheet 2. T. A. BRIGGS. .PRINTING MACHINE;

(No Model.)

Patented MarQl, 1892.

-. INVl-ilftl WITNESS E5 WM (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet a.

' T. A. BRIGGS.

PRINTING MACHINE.

No. 469,931. Patented Mar. 1, 1892.

\A/ITNEEEEE. FE INVENT 13 WWW A? g M UNITED STATES PATENT PRINT-ING- MACHINE.

V SPECIEIGA'IZIQN formingpart of Letters 'Patent'No. 469,931, dated March 1, 1892.

Application filed February 15, 1890. Serial No. 340,507. (No model.)

. To (ZZZ whom, it may concern.-

- Printing Machines, of which the following,

Be it known that I,THOMAS A. BRIGGS, of Arlington, in the county of- Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a oer-- tain new and useful Improvement in Welctaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My presentfinvention relates more especially to a machine having suitable devices for printing one 'or more characters upon a continuous strip of paper and to repeat the character or characters two or more times, if desired, at Varying and adjustable distances with a regularconsecutive order of ascending charactersor numbers within the compass of the given machineand automatically to repeat indefinitely without additional adj ustment.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 isa sectional elevation on the line 1 l of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view with the inking apparatus removed and with the upper parts of the standards broken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 4.. Fig.4 isasectional ele- Vation of a portion of the machine on the line 3 3 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view showing the surface of a printed bundle-slip, illustrating the work that may be done by the machine,

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of the machine, and Fig. 7 is a side I view of the inking devices for theprintingcylinders. p

In Fig.5 1 have shown acommon bundlecheck as used in ordinary retail stores. These checks are formed in two or more parts, the sections to be torn off, asindicated. One part is sent to the cashier by the salesman with the money and another sent with the goods to thebundle-counter. Each salesman has a book corresponding to his number, which ordinarily contains fifty checks bound to-- gether.

represents the frame, which supports the mechanism of my improved printing-n1achine, said frame being clamped or firmly secured to rigid standards T T, which extend above the frame and have secured to their upper ends the horizontal armsL, on which is mounted the'horizontal shaft of the paper-roll K.

E and E represent two rotary rubber-faced cylindrical impression cylinders extended horizontally across the machine and journaied in the sides of'the frame T. Between the upper impression-cylinder E and paper-roll K and parallel therewith is a guide-roller H, and between the two impression-cylinders is a similar guide-roller H. The web of paper to be imprinted passes from the roll K to the sion-cylinders, as may be desired, I journal the roller H at its ends to racks V, which are connected to the frame T, movable longitudi? nally toward and from the type-wheel, as shown in Fig. 1 of the'drawings, and with said racks engage pinions R, secured to a shaft journaled in the aforesaid frame and provided with suitable meansfor turning the shaft with.its pinions. The rotation of the latter move the racks V longitudinally, and thus carry the roller II in or out between the impression-cylinders, and thereby vary the length of the travel of the paper between the impression-cylinders, and consequently, also, vary the distance between the impressions to be made upon the paper, as represented by the :numerals I l on check in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

A denotes the type'wheel, which is axiallv parallel with the impression-cylinders E E and is secured to the shaft 0, journaled in suitable hearings in the frame T. The direction of rotation of the type-wheel is indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1,3, and 6 of the drawings.

5 drawings.

0: represents types, which are secured to holders tr, in any suitable manner, as by dovetailing them in the outer faces of the holders,

I as represented in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

astem as, which is seated movably endwise in the channels a? in the two wheel-rimsA and A and is retained therein by a spiral spring m surrounding the stem :1: and bearing with S its outer end on the inner face of the outer rim A and with its inner-end on a pin or lug :2 attached to the aforesaid 'stemfand there" by holding the,type-holder i'n-its normal or;

' retracted position. Said pin or lug alsoserves as a stop by resting on the inner rim'A of the, wheel A. The same result,however, may also be attained by the head of the type-holder coming in contact with the exterior of the outer rim A Upon the inner sideof the inner rim A of the Wheel A is formed an internalgear at, having in this case one hundred teeth, as shown in Figsl and 3 of the drawings, for the purpose hereinafter described.

On the hub C of the wheel A is loosely mounted an ai'ni'B, one end of which is bifur fcated or formed with a longitudinal slot and receives through it a cross-bar Q,attached to the frame, and is thereby prevented from rotating with the wheel A. The opposite end of said arm has" smooth cylindrical eyes transverse] y throughit at points between the gear a and axis of the wheel A and in radial lines extending from said axis to the axes of the impression-cylinders E E, said impression cylinders thus facing the type-wh eel directly opposite the two pinionsb b. Through each of said eyes passes a stud-pin 0, having a smooth cylindrical neck in the eye of the arm and formed with an eccentric c at the end adjacent to the wheel A and with a head a on the end of the eccentric. On the two eccentrics are journaled the pinions b b, which mesh with the gear a of the type-wheel A. The opposite end of the stud-pin projects from] the outer face of the arm B .and is screw threaded and provided with a set-nut a as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Said nut bearing on the outer face of the arm and the head c engaging the inner face of the pinion completes the connection of the pinion to the arm. Another nut c is fastened to the ex tremity of the stud-pin by means of a pin passing transversely through said parts. This latter nut'serves as a knob by which to turn the stud-pin, and thus change the axial position of the eccentric when desired.

To the inner faces of the pinions b b are secured, respectively, lugs y g by screws y y or other suitable means. Said lugs are in such positions as to cause them to engage the inner end faces of the stems 'w of the typeholders 0: during the rotation of the type- ,thus a heavy prlightimpression of the type The type-holderhas extending from its back wheel,antl thereby pushthe latterendwise outward, as shown aty in Fig. 30f thedrawings. By the axial adjustment of the eccentric c", as I hereinbefore'described, the pinion b is moved toward or from the gear it, and thus the lug -b carriedfthereou is caused to pushthe typ'eholder to a greater ol lessdegrce outward, and

7 y '75 upon the paper to be printed is 'obtained,3as may be desired. When it is desired to print. each character or numeral singly, one of the pinionscan be moved toward th-e axis of the 1 1 type-wheeLA. by tu'rning theieccentricjcfsu f- 8.6, ficiently toiprevent thelug y fro'm actuating the ,type'holderw' without throwing the pinion completely out of et1gagement witl' 1-the The hub G of the type-wheel A is split,' as shown'in Figs. land 4 of the drawings. 2 Outside of the arm B and on the split hub C" is placed a split collar B?, which may beheld in place by a set-s'crew-b. A screw 1/ passes through ears on the split collai andpi'nches' the same upon the split hub 0', and by this means the most perfect alignment of the wheel A upon its shaft 0 is obtained.-

N represents a form-cylinder, which is parallel with andin'contact with the periphery of the impression-cylinder. E, and has,-se-- cured to its peripheral face stereotypes or, electrotypes by which the usual headings are printed on the successive slips produced from the web of paper K in its passage through the machine. Said cylinder isjournaled in suite 7 able bearing's'in the sides of the frameT.

G denotes the maindriving-pulley ofthe machine. On the shaft G of said 'p'nlleyis rigidly mounted a gear-Wheel M,whieh meshes 1o 5 with agear-wheel Z on the shaft of the pril1l1- ing-cylinder N. The gear Z'engages a gear wheel m on the shaft of the platen-cylinder E. The periphery of the lat-ten'gear vvlieel is indicated by dotted lines in FigII-lctthe 11o drawings, and it engages a spur-wheel n, secured to the shaft 0 of the type-wheel A, as;

best seen injFigl 2 of the-drawings, and onlys indicatedby dotted lines in Fi'gnbf the draw lugs. cylinder E has also a gear on its shaft; which gear meshes with the spur-whe'e'l'n, andthns' said latter in] pression-cylinder receives rotary motion. i

The inking-rollers o and 0 receive rotary. motion by gears on the ends thereof engagin g the gear-wheel Z on the shaftof t-heprinting-cylinder N, as indicated by dotted lines in the rollers in Fig. --1 of the drawings. The inkingrolls, Fig. 1, (represented'by 0 0' o o 1'25 d 0 0 are made in the ordinary manner-known to the art, and are arranged to receive inkv from the ordinary fountain,(representedby P.) The two rolls oand o are both. in contact with the roll 0 ,'the roll 0 carrying the 0 ink tothe form-cylinder N,-whi le'rthe' roll'o carries ink to the type-wheel A. Said ink ing-rolls have the usual adj-ustability to-allow for wear, the. The inking-rolls may betu'rned The shaft of the second 'impressionn 5- .of gears, if preferred.

by frictional contact of their surfaces-instead Any suitable'power may be used and airy variat on in number or sizes of gears, inkingrolls, &c., can be made, as desired, if"-the relative correspondence of parts is'maint'ained.

Oneform of mechanismfor inkin gthe formcylinders islshown imFig. 7 of the drawings, and consists .of ratchet 1, fixedto the shaft, to which the roller is also rigidly secured. On said shaft is loosely mounted an arm 2, the

1 free end of which is connected with an ecceri- .tric 8-011 shaft G. The hub of said arm is formed with .a cam 3. A pawl 4 is pivoted to which is held in contact with the cam 23 by the'arin and engages the ratchet. The roller o' is pivoted to the upper'ends of two vertical. arms 5, pivoted-to the frame.

One of these arms is formed with alever 6,the free end of means of aspi ing 7. The roller 0 is rotated by contact with the rollers o and 0 The eccentric 8 imparts an oscillatorv motion to the arm 2, and by. the alternate engagement and releaseof the ratchet l by the pawl 4 the roller 0 receives an intermittent rotary motion.- During the oscillation of the arm 2 the cam 3- thereof intermittently depresses'thelever 6 and thereby transmits oscillatory motion to the roller o', which is thus brought a1- ternately into contact with the rollers o and 0 and thereby carries the ink to the latter roller. The roller 0 serves to spread the ink evenly on the roller 0 and the contactof 'the latter with the rollers 0 and 0 applies thereto the ink. Itis necessary, however, for the best work that the type-wheel A and the impression-cyli'nders E 'E' should have the same velocity, otherwise the printing would be blurred. The paper is preferably used froma roll; 'but it may either be carried through the machine and cut off afterward, or the pa per may be previously cut into suitable sizes and carried through by tapes or other devices. The paper may alsobe rewound after printing, if desired.

Having sufficiently described the operative parts of my present invention, I will now proceed to describe its mode of operation.

' For-convenience I have represented a machine in the drawings as carrying numeralfaced type for the purpose of numbering each check with the same number twice, and to thence continue by a regular ascending series of numbersfrom one to fifty without stop-'" ping or making any adjustment in any way, the checks being formed and numbered upon a continuous strip of paper, as herein described. I

By referring to Figs. 3 and 6the operation will be understood. The paper being adjusted and the distance between impressions properly regulated by the position of the roller H, as hereinbefore' explained, and the ink and inking devices in proper order, the machineryis set in motion. The type-wheel A, being revolved by its shaft C in the direction of the. arrow, brings the types-.X successively opposite the impression-cylinders E E. When the type having the numeral 1 on its face arrives opposite the face of impression-cylinder E,the lug g on the. pinion b presses outward thetypeholder '00 and the figure or numeral 1 is impressed upon the paper or other material,

(illustrate-din S S, Fig. 5.) The type-wheel 'A, continuing to revolve and communicating motion to the pinion b, carries the'lug gflout' of contact with the type-holder (carrying1 and allows the same to be returned to its normal position on the periphery of the wheel-A by the force of the spring-X .The revolving type-wheel A carries the aforesaid type-holderv to a position directly opposite the impression cylinder E, and at the same time the pinion b. is turned to bring its lug 'yin contact with the type-holder, which is thereby again pushed outto make the impression of the type on the paper as it passes between; said type-holder and impression -c'ylinder. Said second impression'is made sufliciently distinct without a second application of .ink to the type. In this manner each type is caused to make two impressions a predetermined distance apart on the paper, as represented in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the distance between the. impressions being determined by the adjustment of. the guide-roller H, interposed between the two impression-cylinders E E, ashereinbefore described. If the internal gear a of wheel A have one hundred teeth and'the pinions b and b have each thirty-four teeth, it is obvious that during one revolution of wheel A each of the pinions b and b will revolve three times, lapping two teeth of gear a; or, in other words, threerevolutions of a pinion will meshin one hundred and two teeth of the gear a, and the following numbers will have been printed upon, the paper-via, 1

In a machine arranged for fifty numbers, as illustrated in the drawings, there being one hundered "teeth in geara of wheel A, it will of course taketwoteet'h foreacljl number. Now

H the pinions b and b having-each thirty-four teeth,it follows that in each revolution of the wheel A there will'be two teeth short of completing the third revolution ofpinions b and b. Starting with lug y of pinion b pressing outward numeral 1, it will take thirty-four teeth of gear a, to produce one-revolution of pinion b, so that lug y will press outward the typeholder carrying numeral '2, and sixty-eight out the type-holder'carrying numeral 3, and one hundred and two teeth will actuate in a similar manner the type holder carrying numeral 4. Now one hundred and two teeth on" gear a would carry past one type-holder, and consequently the lug g would on the third revolution of the pinion strike over one type-. holder each time, so that instead of again striking 1 it would strike 4 upon the third too teeth of said gear will cause the lug 1 to push maticall y impossible that any error can occur.

If it were desired, thesame principle could be applied to print a greater or less number of 'charactersor numerals consecutively. For

' instance, by arranging for one hundred num-- bers each type would be operated byone tooth of gear a and wheel A, and pinionsb andb" would each be formed'with thirty-three teeth,

and in; operation therewouldbea gradual falling of]? of one eachtim e round instead-ot'going one ahead, as ina fit'ty number wheel. This will be-apparentby an; examination of Fig. 6,

in which the general principle is illustrated;

, I do not, therefore, confinefmyself to the precise combination shown northe exact details of parts described, as many. modifications of the same principle can be made,'as already suggested. For instance, the sizeof thewheels,

rolls, and parts may be varied, thennumber may be .increased or diminished, andfthe; special arrangement of pinionsb and b could be modified and work efiiciently.

The devices contained in my present in.- vention may be employed in connection with .a printing-machine either with or without inking devices. It will thus be seen, that I am'able, with a wheel arranged to carry type for any given number of nume'rals or other characters attached to the periphery of the wheel, to automatically print one or more impressionsot' every character successively from lowest to highest on a continuous strip of paper'and to repeat them indefinitely with? out'change or adjustment of any-of its parts.

Having now fully described my. invention, what I claim, and desire tosecureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

- 1. A printing-machine comprising a rotary type-wheel having type-holders seated radially movable in the'periphery of said wheel and held normally retracted therein, and a log revolving about a stationary axis and adapted to push the type-holders success ively outward to their printing position, as set forth. '2. The combination of a rotarytype-wheel provided with an annular internal gear and having type-holders seated radially movable in the peripheryof said wheel and held normally retracted therein, a pinion journaled to an axis held stationary betweenthe aforesaid internal gear and axis of the type-wheel and meshing with saidgear, and alug onvsaid pinion engaging successively the type-holders during the rotation of the pinion, substantially as set forth. In combination with the rotary typewheel having type-holders seated radially movable in the periphery thereof and normally retracted in the wheel, and a plurality of revolving lugs adapted to push the typeholders outward and sustained adj ustably in their position in relation to-the type-holders to keep them out of contact therewith,as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of the type-wheel provided with an annular internal gear and with type-holders seated radially movable in the periphery of said wheel and normally retracted therein, eccentrics clamped adj ustably to stationary supports, pinions mounted on said eccentrics and meshing with the aforesaid internal gear, and lugs attached to the pinions in position to push the type-holders successively :ontward during the rotations of the pinions, substantiallyas described and shown.

5. The combination of a rotary type-wheel about stationary axes and adapted to push outward the'aforesaid type-holders at different parts of the wheel, rotary cylindrical impression cylinders respectively opposite the aforesaid lugs, and a paper-guidingroller between said impression-cylinders, as set forth.

-6. The type-wheel A, provided with the perforated concentric rimsA A and internal gear a, the type-holders X, having stems X,

seated movably longitudinally in the perforations of said rims, springs X retracting the type-holders, the pinion b, mounted on a stationary support .and engaging the gear a, and

the lug 1 attached to said pinion and engaging the inner ends of the type-holder stems,

substantially as described and shown.

7. The combination, with the supportingframe, of a rotary type-wheel carrying a series of radially-movable type-holders distributed around the peripheryof said wheel and provided with the internal gear a, springs holding the-type-holders normally retracted in the wheel, the cross-bar Q, secured tothe frame, the arm B, mounted loosely on the. shaft of the type-wheel and having one. end confined on the aforesaid cross-banpinions b b, pivoted to the opposite end of said. arm,

lugs 11* y,'attached, respectively, tosaid pinions and adapted to push outwardthe typeholders, the spur-wheel non the shaft of said type-wheel, the impression-cylinders E E ,arranged with the centers of their axes in lines extending radially'from the axis ofthe typewheel through the axes of the aforesaid pinions, and gcar-wheels'on the shafts of said impression-cylinders meshing withthe spurwheel n, substantially as .set forth.

8. The improved printing-machineconsisting of the supporting-frame T, the type-wheel A, having radially-movable type-holders held normally retracted in the wheel, internal gear a on said wheel, pinions b b, mounted on a stationary support and engaging the gear a,

lugs y y on said pinions pushing the'ty'pe holders outward, rotary impression-cylinders t 8$ having -'radially movable type-holders nor .mally retracted in the wheel, lugs revolving 1 E E, facing the type-wheeidireetly opposite In testimony Whereot I have signed my 1 the aforesaidjpinions, the form-cylinder N, name to this specification, in the presence of [O facing the impression-cylinder E, the geartwo subscribing witnesses, on this 11th day of wheel M, mounted on the dri ing-shaft, and February, A. D. 1890.

gears respectively on the aforesaid form-cyl- 'JIIOS. A. BRIGGS. index, impression-cylinders, and type-wheel W itnesses; receiving motion from the said gear-wheel M, A. N. SPRAGUE,

substantially as set forth. I Bownom S. PARKER. 

